Belize
Belize, sometimes referred to as British Honduras, was a popular pre-war tourist destination, located central South America bordering Mexico, prior to the onset of the Great War. The nation was one of the many struggling economies following the mid 21st century global energy crisis and was one of the many central South America that was struck by nuclear warheads. Belize was threatened in late 2062 by Guatemala, who sought to annex Belize in an effort to stave off it's own economic collapse and launched a large, if poorly planned incursion in to Belize. This was prevented by the arrival of British troops in the same year, who fought sporadic battles with Guatemalan forces until 2070, when Guatemala withdrew. The Great War all but destroyed Belize, destroying the capital city of Belmopan and irradiating the Capital. Numerous factions of Raiders, Bandits and other more organised Factions have emerged from the ruins of the formerly popular tourist destination. History Though little remains of the history of Belize, the date of nations foundation had survived thanks to an abundance of historical artifacts being preserved in the former capital of Belize City, which had survived much of the Great War and fighting between the United Kingdom and Guatemala over the territory of Belize. Belize itself in the early 21st century was a popular tourist destination for many European Commonwealth and American holiday makers and tourists, thanks to the fairly warm climate and the national language being English, also rumored to be popular thanks to it's strong opposition to Communist encroachment. The modern Belize had access to a few luxuries that many European and American countries held as staples of it's consumerism based economies, such as Nuka-Cola soft drinks, Chryslus cars and RobCo robots, servicing the fairly well off cities of Belize City and Belmopan, along with it's various hotels and casinos. Life for the average Belize citizen was not entirely without problems, particularly for citizens living further in to the jungles of Belize, particularly older settlements that had been around since the early 20th century. Along with intermittent storms and the occasional hurricanes that led to the capital city being moved further inland to Belmopan from Belize City, in 1970. The general prosperity of the nation, however, offset these mild inconveniences that was a problem for a relatively small pool of the general populace, thanks to the populations relatively small size, of around 400,000 people. However, this prosperity and fairly easy living in Belize was disrupted, by the slow realization and eventual market reaction to the global energy crisis, felt particularly in Belize. Belize did have a fairly functional nuclear power and hydroelectric based national power supply, but this was all still dependent upon Oil, Uranium and even coal. By 2058, the economic growth of Belize had begun to slump, despite successive governments attempting to stave off any economic damage from the ongoing crisis. Despite tourism being a steady industry in Belize, the other industries in Belize began to slump, starting first with the closure of Chryslus plants in the country, as well as the loss of jobs in the logging industry following increased costs on the average small company. Protests at what was seen as favoritism from the government towards foreign tourists, particularly in Beliziean Creole circles, which accounted for the largest non-English speaking minority in Belize. These ongoing economic didn't spill over in to immediate rioting or violent protest, even up till 2062 when rationing of fuel for vehicles in Belize came in to effect and when import costs had risen yet again. On August 5th 2062, Guatemala declared that the old claim that the Government of Guatemala had widely dropped in 1991, was now valid once again. This surprise incursion of Guatemalan troops over the border and a brief campaign of air attacks by the Guatemalan Air Force on both strategic and civil targets led to Prime Minister Jose Pritchard issuing a request for international assistance. Unknown to both the Guatemalan and even Belizean authorities, the United Kingdom had been monitoring the situation of both Belize and Guatemala as early as 2059, when the first series of diplomatic discussions had concluded with a failure to reach a mutual accord, a response force having been assembled in preparation for an armed intervention from Britain. The sudden arrival of British troops, supposedly responding to the plea from Prime Minister Pritchard, advanced towards the border with Guatemala and the approaching troops of the Guatemalan Armed Forces, meeting each other on November 3rd 2062. After a series of brief and sporadic engagements, poorly trained and often malnourished Guatemalan forces were pushed back over the border by British forces, with the Guatemalan Air force being almost entirely destroyed in air combat with aircraft from the Fleet Air Arm and Royal Air Force. The brief elation of the population of Belize was abruptly dashed by the declaration by British commander Colonel Asquith that the arriving British forces were taking up permanent residence, with Belize being declared under occupation in the December of 2062. The occupation would last right up until the Great War with a permanent presence of British troops on Belizean soil to maintain order, in the words of Colonel Asquith. Various protests and riots were dispersed by British forces, often violently, whilst the occasional exchange of fire was experienced on the border with Guatemala, with the usual response of either air attack or artillery attack by British forces. Throughout, tourism was a stable and at times profitable enterprise, leading to some speculations that special interest groups had lobbied the British government to intervene on their behalf, rather than that of the Belizeans. This continued resentment of what was seen as a colonial restoration in Belize, at the detriment to the civil liberties of Belizeans themselves was often protested throughout Belize's major cities and towns. On October 23rd, 2077, the Great War began and ended, all but destroying the capital city of Belmopan, causing flash burns and countless deaths by radiation sickness over the coming months, with an unknown death toll due to the radiation that spread from the Caribbean waters to Belize city, itself causing subsequent rioting, looting and general disintegration of law and order. Though factions such as the Caribbean Confederation, an assortment of former British occupation force soldiers and other personnel, as well as influential business interests whom would endure well past the Great War, much of Belize remains unexplored. The jungles of Belize by all estimates harbour more than their fair share of horrifically deformed and mutated animals, skulking throughout the Jungle backwaters, making organised exploration somewhat hazardous. The idea of exploration is made even more perilous, when taking in to account the amount of hostile raiders and bandits hiding in the jungles, as well as the large, mostly feral, ghoul population of Belmopan. Category:Pre-War Nation Category:Places